Episode 263: Bill Nye, David Crosby, and Our Big Party in Big Sur

This week: a very special edition of The Dinner Party Download originally crafted as part of the Big Sur Sound and Story Festival at the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, California. The show is themed around a summer night, out under the stars.

Bill Nye The Science Guy takes us on a trip around outer space … Seventies singer-songwriter David Crosby gets spiritual about redwoods … Ghost-hunter Richard Senate spins some California spookiness … Novelist John Brandon takes us into the wild … Elizabeth Gilbert invites us to a ‘star-studded’ party … and Brazilian musician Rodgrigo Amarante plays us some music for a night outside.

Brazilian musician and songwriter Rodrigo Amarante has been part of the bands Los Hermanos, Orquestra Imperial, and the U.S. indie outfit Little Joy. He provides a party playlist to spin under the stars.

Elizabeth Gilbert, the woman who launched a thousand book clubs with her 2006 best-seller "Eat, Pray, Love," is back with a new novel, "The Signature of All Things," set in the world of nineteenth century elites.

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Celebrated chef Anthony Bourdain gets tough and tender in our etiquette segment... Breakout actor Mackenzie Davis (TV's "Halt and Catch Fire," the new film "Always Shine") opts for reality over (manic pixie) dreams... Kurt Wagner, frontman of Nashville band Lambchop, turns back the clock with his party soundtrack...Iconic silver screen rebel Toshiro Mifune gets a new close-up...And Nora McInerny, host of the new podcast "Terrible, Thanks for Asking," travels through time and tragedy, with comedy. Plus, sinister smog, verboten leftovers, and maybe the most tongue-tied joke in DPD history.